Drift And Budweiser Announce Renewable-Energy Partnership

September 25, 2018

NEW YORK CITY (September 25, 2018) – Today, Drift, a new power company that uses artificial intelligence and high-frequency trading to provide 100% renewable, low-cost, local power, and Budweiser, The King of Beers, announced a partnership to help business and consumers switch to low cost, 100% renewable electricity. The partnership, announced during Climate Week in New York City, comes as the beer maker has committed to producing Budweiser around the world with 100% renewable energy by 2025.

“It takes a lot of electricity to brew the King of Beers so we are excited to transition to 100% renewable electricity for all Budweisers brewed around the world,” said Brian Perkins, Global VP at Budweiser. “We know that climate change is an important issue for consumers. However, they aren’t sure how their everyday actions can make a difference. Our new partnership with Drift will help them do just that.”

“We think a partnership between the king of low-cost, 100% renewable electricity and the king of beers makes sense. Working together, Budweiser and Drift can help show consumers and business of all sizes the difference they can make for the planet, and for their bottom lines, by choosing green power,” said Drift CEO Greg Robinson.

The Partnership

Budweiser and Drift’s new partnership comes as the King of Beers recently committed to using 100% renewable electricity for the global production of its beer by 2025 and driving meaningful change on a global scale. 41 million Budweisers are sold on average every day around the world, and switching to renewable electricity in Budweiser brewing operations will correspond to taking 48,000 passenger cars off the road every year.

The initial focus of the partnership will be to encourage consumers #CHOOSERENEWABLES by signing up with Drift. New customers can use code BUD100 at joindrift.com/BUD100 and we’ll take $100 off your first renewable energy bill. Big change only happens if we are all 100% in. Switching to 100% renewable-energy from Drift’s takes less than a minute and will allow consumers to save money while helping to save the planet.

In addition to consumer-focused efforts, Budweiser is inviting other brands to help build a movement to celebrate renewable electricity use as a way to tackle climate change. Towards that end, Drift and Budweiser will look to expand their partnership to take advantage of Drifts ability to offer low-cost, 100% renewable energy for both consumers and business as the beermaker works to achieve its 2025 goal.

The Energy Market Challenge

Technology has transformed almost every aspect of our economy but left the aging and inefficient power markets in the United States almost untouched. The result is that America spends close to $1.3 trillion a year (8% of GDP) on energy, with close to 60% of those dollars paying for energy that is produced but never used. Due to these gross inefficiencies, America pays more annually for wasted energy than it does to maintain the U.S. Military. According to the Energy Information Agency, national residential electricity prices have increased by over 50% since 2003.

Despite innovations in energy efficiency and the growth of alternative energy solutions, the U.S power markets have seen little change in the past century. Utility companies estimate how much electricity they will need to power the market 24 hours beforehand based, in many cases, on a rough combination of average monthly energy use in the previous year and citywide weather forecasts for the next day.

The utility then purchases energy on the large-scale wholesale market, adds 10 – 20% in administrative fees in addition to fees for maintaining the energy grid infrastructure—things like power lines and transformers—and then sells it to consumers and businesses. Several times a year, utility companies underestimate how much power they’ll need for the next day and demand outstrips supply resulting in prices up to 40 times higher than normal, which is good for profit margins but bad for customers. It’s an outdated and inefficient process with one winner: the utility company.

Drift’s Solution

Because wind, solar and hydropower on the grid is unpredictable, most green energy companies actually sell their customers fossil fuel-based energy coupled with renewable energy credits. The actual energy consumed is dirty, but it helps to underwrite the production of green energy which largely goes unused. For the first time in history, Drift is able to provide business and consumers with 100% renewable, always-on electricity, not credits or off-set certificates.

The company uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to determine how much energy will be needed the next day by factoring in things like an individual customer’s daily energy use over time as well as zipcode-level microclimate weather data estimates. Drift then turns to its network of peer-to-peer energy producers—ranging from iconic skyscrapers to hydroelectric dams and wind and solar farms—to procure power for consumers. In the event that demand outstrips supply, Drift uses high-frequency trading to reduce or eliminate price spikes altogether.

Drift’s technology allows it to source power directly from a growing network of independent renewable energy producers helping to cut out the 10 – 20% in administrative fees that traditional utility companies pass on to customers. As Drift expands its network of peer-to-peer energy producers over the next two years, it expects to lower prices even further by creating a more efficient and price competitive electricity market. With a traditional utility company, the more energy you use the more money it makes. Drift doesn’t charge service fees and doesn’t make a dime off of how much energy is used. The company’s entire value proposition is helping consumers to save while saving the planet.

Following the successful growth of its residential electricity business in New York City, Drift has expanded its service to commercial businesses—both large and small. Now enterprises of all size can benefit from Drift’s ability to increase the amount of renewable energy they consume while lowering prices.

About Drift

Drift is America’s first national, peer-to-peer energy company. The company uses a distributed network of independent energy producers, machine learning, artificial intelligence and high-frequency trading technology to seamlessly match supply and demand in real time. The company’s unique approach and proprietary software allow independent energy producers to maximize their profits while residential and business customers minimize both their energy costs and their impact on the environment. The company offers its service to consumers and business in New York City and plans to expand across the country over the course of 2019.

Drift is supported by some of the brightest investors in the world, including IA Ventures, First Round Capital, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, SV Angel, Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures, Third Kind Venture Capital, Acequia Capital, Kal Vepuri, and Joshua Schachter, and M Ventures. To sign up for Drift or find out more about the company, please visit https://joindrift.com.

About Budweiser

Budweiser, an American-style lager, was introduced in 1876 when company founder Adolphus Busch set out to create the United States’ first truly national beer brand – brewed to be universally popular and transcend regional tastes. Each batch of Budweiser stays true to the same family recipe used by five generations of Busch family brewmasters. Budweiser is a medium-bodied, flavorful, crisp and pure beer with blended layers of premium American and European hop aromas, brewed for the perfect balance of flavor and refreshment. Budweiser is made using time-honored methods including “kraeusening” for natural carbonation and Beechwood aging, which results in unparalleled balance and character.